Abstract
To the Editor.— I read with interest the article by Goldman and Lantz entitled "FTA-ABS and VDRL Slide Test Reactivity in a Population of Nuns" ( 217 :53-55, 1971). Certainly the fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) test is highly sensitive; however, the specificity of this test is difficult to evaluate. An experimental study in the British Journal of Venereal Disease ( 46 :313, 1970) entitled "Reactivity in the FTA-ABS test of Rabbits Hyperimmunized With Nonpathogenic Treponemes," by Tringali and Cox, addresses itself to this question. In this study the FTA-ABS test was performed on the sera of rabbits hyperimmunized against nonpathogenic treponemes. The FTA-ABS sorbent at the concentration currently used for testing human sera eliminated the treponemal antigen from only two out of 17 of the hyperimmunized rabbits' sera. However, using Reiter sonicate all 17 hyperimmune antisera reacted negatively. This study would imply that unless the sorbent step of the FTA-ABS test
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